Presto Chart,
The Presto Chart - December 2018
A landslide victory for The Choir of King’s College Cambridge this month, with their album celebrating the hundredth anniversary of their Nine Lessons and Carols service (which is also Stephen Cleobury’s farewell recording as Director of Music) selling almost twice as many copies as our second-place recording, Francois-Xavier Roth’s marvellous contribution to the Debussy anniversary with Les Siècles. (You can read David's full review of the King's album here). Other popular seasonal discs include A Vaughan Williams Christmas from William Vann and Chapel Choir Of The Royal Hospital Chelsea, and The Sixteen’s A Renaissance Christmas, sitting at No. 11 and No. 15 respectively.
It’s also great to see five of our Top 10 Recordings of 2018 enjoying new leases of life – Franco Fagioli’s Handel Arias, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Polina Leschenko’s Deux, Alexander Melnikov’s Four Pieces, Four Pianos and Rachel Podger’s Four Seasons with Brecon Baroque, as well as that Roth Debussy – and my own Personal Favourite of the Year, Steven Isserlis and Dénes Várjon’s Chopin and Schubert recital on Hyperion, appearing at No. 12!
No. 1 (No. 2 last month)
King’s College Cambridge, Stephen Cleobury
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC
No. 2 (new entry)
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Available Formats: CD + DVD Video, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 3 (No. 8 last month)
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 4 (No. 1 last month)
MusicAeterna, Teodor Currentzis
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 5 (No. 3 last month)
Isabelle Faust (violin), Alexander Melnikov (piano), Tanguy de Williencourt (piano), Magali Mosnier (flute), Antoine Tamestit viola), Xavier de Maistre (harp), Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello), Javier Perianes (piano)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 6 (new entry)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vasily Petrenko
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 7 (No. 7 last month)
Hilary Hahn (violin)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 8 (No. 18 in August)
Rachel Podger (violin), Brecon Baroque
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
No. 9 (No. 4 last month)
Cecilia Bartoli (mezzo), Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 10 (No. 18 last month)
Sabine Devieilhe (soprano), Léa Desandre (mezzo), Le Concert d'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 11 (new entry)
Chapel Choir Of The Royal Hospital Chelsea, William Vann
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 12 (No. 16 last month)
Steven Isserlis (cello) & Dénes Várjon (piano)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
No. 13 (No. 6 last month)
Daniil Trifonov (piano), Philadelphia Orchestra, Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 14 (new entry)
Mitsuko Uchida (piano), Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle
Available Formats: 3 CDs + Blu-ray Audio + Blu-ray Video, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 15 (new entry)
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 16 (new entry)
Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 17 (new entry)
Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin), Polina Leschenko (piano)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 18 (No. 19 in October)
Paul Watkins (cello), Louis Lortie (piano), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis
Available Formats: SACD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 19 (new entry)
Franco Fagioli (countertenor), Il Pomo d'Oro, Zefira Valova
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 20 (No. 20 last month)
Yo-Yo Ma (cello)
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 21 (No. 21 in September)
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Andris Nelsons
Available Formats: 2 CDs, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 22 (new entry)
Yuja Wang (piano)
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 23 (new entry)
Natalya Romaniw, Eleanor Dennis, Kitty Whately, Robert Murray, Ben McAteer, Neal Davies; Kinder Children's Choir, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Concert Orchestra, John Andrews
Available Format: 2 SACDs
No. 24 (new entry)
Alexander Melnikov (pianos)
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
No. 25 (new entry)
Sarah Fox (soprano), Mark Stone (baritone), James Ehnes (violin), Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
Chris O'Reilly - Chief Executive
